Lawn mower



Feb. 12, 1952 2,585,315

R. H. HERMAN LAWN MOWER 2 Sl-IEETS-SHEET 1 Filed April 18, 1949 20 F 4. INVENTOR.

Fado/afi 61/72/074 ATTOIPNE Feb. 12, 1952 R. HUHE LAWN MOWER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed April 18, 1949 Patented Feb. 12, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LAWN MOWER Rudolph H. Herman, Kansas City, Mo., assignor of one-half to Arthur Popham, Jr., Kansas City, Mo.

Application April 18, 1949, Serial No. 88,215

4 Claims.

be connected with said wheels to drive the same and having novel control means that are simple to operate and particularly safe in such operation.

It is the most important object of the present invention to provide an attachment for lawn mowers of the kind above specified having thereon a rotatable shaft that is joined with the wheels of the mower through endless belts, the f shaft being reciprocably mounted for movement to and from a position slackening the belts and having manual control means therefor, whereby the interconnection between the shaft and the wheels may be rendered inoperable as desired.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a drive assembly for lawn mowers wherein the rotatable shaft thereof is separably mounted at each end thereof for movement toward and away from the wheels to be driven, and yieldably held in a position with the drive belts under tension, there being a specially formed handle operably connected with the shaft for shifting the same and thereby rendering the assembly inoperable from the standpoint of the driving of the mower wheels.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide manual control means for actuating the rotatable drive shaft, embodied within a handle and so formed as to disengage pulleys on the shaft with respect to their belts when the handle of the lawn mower is released and to reestablish operable connection when the handle is raised to a normal guiding position.

Other objects of the present invention relate to the manner in which a pair of swingable hand grips is provided on the handle and so connected with the reciprocable shaft as to effect turning of the mower when placed in use; the way in which the handle itself is articulated intermediate the ends thereof to permit buckling during storage of the mower; the manner of reciprocably mounting the prime mover and yieldably holding the same in a position where its drive belt is held taut; and the way in which the entire attachment is formed and mounted on the mower itself so as to be readily detached for rendering the mower usable in the conventional manner.

Other more minor objects including details of construction, will be made clear as the following ill specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a rear elevational view of a lawn mower made in accordance with my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse, cross-sectional View taken on line IIIIII of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. his a fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on line IVIV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the outermost end of the handle per se of the mower, parts being broken away to reveal details of construction.

6 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on line VI-VI of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line VII-VII of Fig. 5.

There is illustrated in the drawings a conventional lawn mower of the kind having a frame broadly designated by the numeral [0 upon which frame it is rotatably mounted a pair of spaced apart supporting wheels l2 and It. The wheels 52 and it are operably connected with a cutter blade assembly it that is mounted on the frame it between wheels [2 and I4 for rotation on-a substantially horizontal axis. The blades of the assembly l6 cooperate with a rigid blade I8 on frame it in the severing action of the mower.

The lawn mower chosen for illustration, has its frame it provided with opposed integral circular portions 25 and it is upon these portions 2Q that the attachment hereof is releasably mounted.

A pair of elongated arms 22 and 2d of identical character are formed arcuately at the bottom thereof and adjacent one of their ends to conform with the contour of the portions 26 of the frame Hi, there being an arm for each portion 20 respectively. The arms 22 and 24 rest directly upon the frame portions 20 as illustrated most clearly in Fig. 4 and extend rearwardly and downwardly into a projection 26.

The two spaced apart arms 22 and 24 are interconnected by a plate 28 through the medium of screws or the like 30, said plate 28 conforming in transverse cross-section with the contour of the uppermost edge of the arms 22 and 24. Consequently, a flat face 32 is presented in the plate 28 that overlies the cutting assembly It. This face 32 carries a pair of spaced apart guides 3t extending transversely of the plate 28 for receiving a small gasoline engine or other prime mover 36.

Plate 28 is held in place upon the frame portions through the medium of a central pin 38 that projects downwardly through the plate 28 and each arm 24 and 26 respectively and into an opening provided in the corresponding frame portion 20. That portion of the plate 28 overlying the projections 26 of the arms 22 and 24, is provided-with a pair of spaced apart openings adjacent the ends thereof for .reciprocably. receiving vertical pins and 42 respectively.

The lowermost ends of the pins 40 and 42 are provided with collars 44 underlying the plate 28 for limiting the extent of upward movement of the pins 49 and 42.

A universal joint 46 is provided at the uppermost end of each pin 49 and 42 respectively. Joint 46 includes a section 48 having a perforated upstanding ear 50 and joined directly to the uppermost end of the corresponding pin '49 or 42 as the case may be.

A spring 52 is coiled about a collar 54 that in turn circumscribes the pin- 40 or 42. One end of the spring 52 bears against the uppermost face of the plate 28 and the opposite end thereof bears against the section 48 of universal joint 46.

Another section 56 of the joints 46 is bifurcated for receiving the ear 59 of the section 48 and a transverse bolt 58 pivotally interconnects the sections 68 and 56. The-sections 56 of the two joints 46 are formed to present bearings for rotatably receiving the horizontal shaft 65 that spans the distance between the sections and is disposed horizontally in spaced relationship above the plate 28. Collars 82 on the ends of the shafts 69 maintain the same in place.

A pulley 54 is interposed between each collar 62 respectively and the corresponding joint section 58, the pulleys 64' being secured directly to the shaft 69.

A sheave 66 is secured directly to the innermost face of each wheel I2 and I4 respectively for receiving an endless belt 68 that is in turn trained about the corresponding pulley- 8d. Rotative movement is imparted to the shaft 69 from the prime mover 36 through the medium of an endless belt I9 that passes over a pulley." secured to shaft 69 intermediate the ends thereof, which belt 19 also passes over a small pulley 14 on the drive shaft of the prime mover 36.

A base plate I6 for the prime mover 36 is freely slidable upon the uppermost face 32 of plate 28 between the guides 34.

An L-shaped pin 18 reciprocably mounted in a bracket 83 depending from the plate 28, has a spring 32 coiled thereabout and held against the bracket 89 by a collar 84. Pin 18 passes through an opening 86 that supports the outermost end thereof and the short leg 83 of pin "E3 extends upwardly and into an opening 90 formed in the base member I6. Consequently, the belt T9 is yieldably held in a tight condition between A handle, broadlydesignated by the numeral 92, has a pair of tubular stretches 94 and 99 that converge and join as the outermost free ends thereof are approached. Each of the sections 94 and 59 respectivelyof the handle 92 is provided with an extension 98 at the innermost end thereof and pivotally secured thereto through the medium of a pin I99. The sections 94 and 96 are free to swing upwardly with respect to their extensions 98 but an L-shaped bracket I92 adjustably secured to the extensions 98 have one leg thereof underlying the sections 94 or .96

pulleys l2 and I4 through the action of the spring at H0 and each of the out-turned ends H0 is provided with a grip member H2 having a pair of spaced apart plates H 1 and H6 that overlap the end H6. The plates H4 and I I6 are pivotal- 1y joined through the medium of a pin H8 to "the'outermost free end of the portions H6 of handle 92 for free swinging movement of the grips I I2 in the manner illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 5.

A spring-loadedpin I29 carried by the handle 92 for reciprocable movement therein is provided with a pair of L-shaped arms I22 that pass through aligned openings I24 and I26 in plates H4 and H6 and in the end portions H9 respectively. As the arms I22 are removed from the openings I29 and I26, they are turned to an inoperative position rendering the grips H2 freely swingable. The innermost end of the grips H2 have secured thereto one end of a cable I28 that passes downwardly through a corresponding handle section 94 an over a pin I39 adjacent the innermost oi' the handle sections 94 and 96 and thence outwardly and downwardly for connection with the plate 28. The rearmost edge of the plate 23 and the arms 22 and 24 are provided with slots I32 for receiving the cables I28 and a spring catch I3 yieldably holds the cables I28 in place within the slots I 32. Removal of the cables from slots I32 against the action of spring catches I34, permits removal of handle 92 from pins ltd by springing 94 and 96 toward each other.

In operation, when the drive shaft 69 is at the I uppermost end of its path of travel, and yieldably held in such position by the action of the two springs 52, the two endless belts G3 are taut and, therefore, in a condition for driving the wheels I2 and HI upon energization of the prime mover 39. (Full lines, Figs. 1, 2, 3.) Obviously, downward movement of the shaft 69 and the pulleys 69 thereon willcause the two belts 68 to slackenand the pulleys 64 will thereby rotate freely within the belts 68 without imparting rotative movement to the wheels i2 and I4. Downward movement of the shaft to thus render the prime mover 35 inoperable to drive wheels l2 and I4, is accomplished by simply releasing the handle 92, the weight of such handle 92 and its component parts being sufficient to overcome the action of springs 52. (See Fig. 2, dash lines.)

When the operator desires to place the machinein operation, liemerely lifts upwardly on the outermost end of the handle 92, which raises theshaft with the aid of springs 52, thereby placing the belts 68 under tension. (See Figs. 2 and. full lines.)

7 If it is desired to turn themower while the same-is moving forwardly under power of prime mover 35, the operator presses downwardly upon one of the gripmembers 5-12 as shown by the arrows in Fig. 5, to thereby pull upon one of the cables I29. Such action compresses the corresponding spring-52- and lowers one end only of the shaft Bil. (See Fig. 3, dash lines.) Obviously the fit between sections 94 and 96 and the pins N39 is not so tight as to present lateral swinging of the sections 94 and 95 toward and away from extensions 98 during manipulation of but one handle H2.

The pulley 54 on the opposite end of the shaft at will remain under tension with respect to its belt 38 and, therefore, the corresponding drive wheel of the mower will continue to be driven. The lawn mower wheel that is disconnected with respect to the prime mover 36 will thereupon swing on a given point while the turning action takes place. The articulation between handle sections 94 and 3E and their extensions 98 permits simple storage of the mower in confined places by swinging handle 92 to the dotted line position of Fig. 3.

It has been found that the operator can soon learn to manipulate the mower whereby to impart reciprocating motion thereto by proper lifting and lowering of the handle 92. As a safety factor in the event that for any reason the operator becomes incapacitated, the mere release of the handle 32 will disengage the pulleys 64 and thereby render the driving assembly inoperable. Furthermore, it is to be noted that simultaneous downward swinging movement of the grips H2 will also render the assembly inoperable.

Another novel feature that is quite important to the present invention lies in the way in which the entire assembly is mounted upon the plate 28 which may be easily removed from the frame portions 2d after release of the belts 68.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a lawn mower, the combination of a shaft; pulleys on the shaft; belts for driving the lawn mower wheels from the pulleys; shiftable shaft-supporting means including yieldable elements arranged to push the ends of the shaft so as to maintain the belts taut; and a guide handle movably carried by said lawn mower and operably connected with said means for shifting said shaft against the action of said elements to simultaneously loosen the belts when the handle is moved toward one end of its path of travel.

2. In a lawn mower, the combination of a shaft; pulleys on the shaft; belts for driving the lawn mower wheels from the pulleys; shiftable shaft-supporting means including yieldable elements arranged to push the ends of the shaft so as to maintain the belts taut, and permit the shaft to tilt from end to end; a guide handle on the lawn mower; a pair of grips movable on the handle; and means operably connecting each grip respectively with a corresponding shaftsupporting means for shifting the latter against the action of the corresponding yieldable element to selectively tilt the shaft in opposite directions as the grips are alternately moved to one end of their respective paths of travel.

3. In a lawn mower having a shaft, pulleys on the shaft, belts for driving the lawn mower wheels from the pulleys, and shiftable shaft-supporting means, including yieldable elements arranged to push the ends of the shaft so as to maintain the belts taut, the improvement of which comprises a guiding handle movably carried by said lawn mower and operably connected with said means for shifting said shaft against the action of said elements to simultaneously loosen the belts when the handle is moved toward one end of its path of travel.

4. In a lawn mower having a shaft, pulleys on the shaft, belts for driving the lawn mower wheels from the pulleys, and shiftable shaft-supporting means, including yieldable elements arranged to push the ends of the shaft so as to maintain the belts taut, and permit the shaft to tilt from end to end, the improvement of which comprises a guiding handle movably carried by said lawn mower and operably connected with said means for shifting said shaft against the action of said elements to simultaneously loosen the belts when the handle is moved toward one end of its path of travel; a pair of grips movable on the handle; and means operably connect ing each grip respectively with a corresponding shaft-supporting means for shifting the latter against the action of the corresponding yieldable element to selectively tilt the shaft in opposite directions as the grips are alternately moved to one end of their respective paths of travel.

RUDOLPH H. HERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,779,583 Blydenburgh Oct. 28, 1930 2,073,158 Kindle et a1 Mar. 9, 1937 2,237,521 Frazier Apr. 8, 1941 2,329,372 Hitch Sept. 14, 1943 2,528,244 Rawson Oct. 31, 1950 

